Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-01-20
An 1NCEND1ARY.

Over the roughening sea the fishing bark
was rushing like a flash. The evening be
fore they had started M splendid weather,
before IA southwest breeze that barely wrin-
kled the surface of sea flashing like sill
yer beneath tho sun. But only little
| while before old Landure the skipper, had
stopped with an anxious expression Of Coun-
tenance as he passed by the lookout. In less
/ than an hour the barometer, whose column
of mercury scintillated before the door, had
lowered more than an inch. The old man
/ had looked at il for mOment-thinking.
! Then he had looked up to the sky, scented
the win1, and finally shrugged his shoulders.
! A storm coming with such weather as that
! couldn't he possible. He would certainly
have bsen able to feel it cOming-why,
hadn't hc always been able to tell two days
before a storm was coming And that day,
he couldn't feel anything unusual in the
atmosphere. The barometer must be going
crazy.
That was why old Landure had started
out with his two boys, Pierre and Jean.
His own boys No. Old Lsndure had
but one child-s daughter: Marie, the pearl
of the coast, a superb girl of twenty,
strong and graceful. with black eyes soft as
velvet, and skin like the skin Of a rips
peach. Pierre and Jean were only two
seafaring lads of the coast-powerful fel-
lows both, and heavy workers, who knew
their business well, and whom he had en-
gagged year before to man his fishing YES
sci and help in the fishing. Everything had
gone well with him since he engaged them.
The only question between them seemed to
he as to which could put most heart into his
work. Two rivals indeed in that, Ha! ha I!
the old skipper well knew what the motive
Of all that zeal was. The two young ras,
Gals We're both after his daughter-that was
dead certain. And it was a struggle be
tween them which could best merit his good
graceS, 80 aS to be received as a son-in-law.
What did that matter: Old Landure felt
quite secure as to the result. His girl had
plenty Of sense; her mind was just as
healthy as her body She could make her
own choice as soon as she pleased, and that
would settle the question.
Perhaps, too. it We're better for her not
TO delay too long about it For to have to
wait that way wasn't Just the best thing
for two young fellows as hotly in love as
they were For more than a month old
LanduTc had been noticing an exchange of
wicked looks between them. The evil glances
werr specially frequent on the part of
Jean-a quicker tempered fellow than Pierre;
more in love also than Pierre, perhaps, but
more underhand by far. Still, all that
could be settled nicely later on ehs-on the
wedding day; and the Tilted one would be
able 20 console himself with double ration
of cider. IL wouldn't be the first time the
old man had seen such disappointment
well drowned in jollification; and then.
the~e were handsome girls in plenty all along
the coast
Meantime they had been working very
hard that afternoon-and very silently
But all of q sudden, about 4 o'clock, the
wind had freshened.
Hello, boys, what's this mean?" Old
Landure had looked up, shaded his eyes
with his hand, and watched the horizon.
Far off, at the very verge, black cloud
was rushing toward them.
Loose everything" shouted the skipper,
land head for land
And they had done their best TO hurry
But all at once the wind had veered-blow-
ing the bark out to sea again. Gods judg
ment day! What a storm it blew Never
had the two boys, nor even old Landure,
aged as he was, seen the like. 1t seemed as
if one of those devilish whirlwinds, which
those who had sailed in tropical waters used
10 tell about-one Of those frishtful cyclones
which hem in ship with circle Of fren-
ziei storm winds-had lost its way and wan
dered by mistake into the neighborhood of
the Breton coast Every half hour the wind
would shift, and the bewildered vessel be
whirled round, to start of again in some
new and unknown direction, over a heaving
Of waves bigger than house. How she
failed tn lNu,n fba
chances against her were twenty to one.
Lord, but her ribs must have been solidly
put together! But stoutly built as she was,
she kept rolling from wave to wave, plung-
ing, rising as il by a miracle, Jared buf-
feted, pitched and tossed, yet always run
ming ahead at a devil of a speed.
Where was she going now? The three
sailors themselves could not have answered
that question to save their lives. Night
had fallen-a night 50 black that YOU
couldn't have seen anything ten boat lengths
ahead. At one moment they had caught
glimpse of the Belle Isle light Now they
could not distinguish anything All about
them was the horror of darkness and the
roaring of the wind through the rigging
Skipper" Pierre suddenly shouted,
"the lanterns out!''
lTN 70 l1ul IL btlp", anu Take cart yOu
don't set fire to No! never mindr' he
continued, reconsidering, I'm go below
myself -
And letting go his hold of the mast to
which he had been clinging the old seaman
made two steps toward the door Of the
cabin.
But at that very instant heavy sea
swept the deck. A err rang out. The deck
was unoccupiedi
bad luck!-the masters oyerboardr"
shouted Pierre.
Hes gone up"' cried Jean, still crouch
ing over the tiller.
The two men leaned out, scrutinizing the
darkness with dilated eyes. They could see
nothing.
'Thunderationr' criei Pierre, whats
Marie going TO say:'
''Devilish small chance Wen ever know"
answered Jean.
Why
'Because we're going to get left, too"
"You think;''
"The devil!-what chance is therey"
~ don't know"
well, know And | know something
else. too"
What's that
'This.--it the boat pulls through, she
isn't going to bring more than one of US
ashore.
"Nhy:
because of Marie"
''Going crazy, Jean!'
"No, amt going crazy! There's one too
many right here-and you know it. This
is good chance. If YOUR not cowardIy
dog, you'll take advantage of it.
How
lone of us two's got to go after old Land
ure"
(Which ones"
Wen try our luck for it. First sea
breaks over the boat decides! If it's star
board, it's you; if it's larboard, it'll be me!
Is that rigut:'
THAT J be all right
The two men remained silent. A Iainute
long as a century-paSsed. The storm
seemed TO have subsided little. the waves
we're running less swiftly. Then, at last, a
great sea swept the deck.
"Iarhosrd" cried Jean: "it's mer''